One Hour One Life Forums

Hello!

I purchased this game less than 24 hours ago, and have put in quite a bit of gameplay time in already.

After seeing the game pop-up in a few places (particularly Youtube), it looked super interesting and I thought I'd give it a try.  I wanted to give you some feedback as a brand-new player, as I think it is in the first few days of gameplay that users decide if they are really into it or not.

So...

As a new player, I have found this game to be *extremely* difficult and not as enjoyable as I had hoped.  In fact, from what I've read on the forums, old players also find the game difficult.  It seems, from what I have been reading, that the developer of the game (Jason) has been worried about 'bored players', and has therefore instituted a bunch of barriers to make it harder to progress/survive in the game.  Unfortunately, the major downfall to this is that it seems nearly impossible for new players to figure out how to survive/thrive, and elder players are stretched too thin to actually teach or guide.  Personally, I think the developer's focus may be misguided, but I am neither a developer nor a long-time player... so what do I know?  That said, a game is supposed to be fun... not stressful and hard.  There needs to be a balance of challenge and enjoyment, IMO.

Anyway, the vast majority of my experiences so far have been me getting spawned into the middle of nowhere, often by myself as an 'Eve' or as a baby to an 'Eve' (who often lets me die, which I understand because it's fricken hard to have a baby).  Right out of the gate, I am not enjoying this. I crave the social aspect of the game, so being plopped into the game by myself has been incredibly frustrating.  I can't learn anything from anyone, I don't have the breathing room to explore/practice/experiment with the environment (because I am literally just running around trying to find berries or onions to stay alive), and I know that I am not a strong enough player to keep a baby and myself alive while learning... I just have to hope that I stay alive long enough, and my baby sticks around and knows what they are doing.  Out of probably hundreds of respawns, this has happened maybe twice.

The times I have actually enjoyed the game are when I am spawned into a thriving community.  I am able to wander around and learn what's going on, and sometimes someone is able to spare time to tell me something useful.  I also love the chance to communicate with others, roleplay the family dynamics, and see the drama of little villages play out.  Out of the many hours I have played, this has really only happened once.  I was a part of some smaller communities that were ok, but not as fun.

The game seems like a lot of work for a new player.  You have to find a place to live, find the things you need, figure out how to do it all.  Then you inevitably die and have to restart from scratch.  Alone.  With nothing.  It's just annoying. I crave the social gameplay so badly.  I want to spawn into pre-existing families.  I want to be part of a community.  I want to be taught by the elders.  And I do not want to be so stressed about grinding and surviving that it's impossible to enjoy the social aspect.

Maybe this is happening because I am starting at a time when the game is at the beginning of a lifecycle or something, and maybe there aren't communities for me to spawn into.  However, from what I gathered from Jason's posts, this is by design.  He has intentionally made it so that we spawn 7000 tiles away from the last place, and that we aren't "supposed to stumble upon old towns".

Despite my gripes, the times I was spawned into pre-existing villages have been awesome and I *really* enjoyed the game.  Everytime I respawn, I hope to get that experience again.  Perhaps something can be done so that players can choose to spawn as Eve?  Or maybe have it so that you spawn as Eve or a baby of Eve only a certain number of times in a row?

he original idea for OHOL was that everyone would get to play a single life, and that was it.  You pay $5 for this insanely amazing hour that you will never forget, and then at the end of it, you say goodbye forever.  Literally ONE LIFE, and only one life.... imagine that game for a minute...

happynova wrote:

I've watched a few YouTube videos of people trying out the game, and found myself vigorously headdesking at how often when someone asks if they're new, they say "N," apparently based on the fact that, nah, they've been playing for ten or fifteen whole minutes now and have totally figured out how to pick things up and to feed themselves berries.

What bothers me, is some of them people say they are not new and don't even know how to pick stuff up, eat food, or put on clothing.

Or on a less philosophical level, maybe it's a hint that a sign on an ancient wall is permanent.